Life Goes On
by MoldyMoo
Summary: I can't make this sound original. InuYasha high school AU. Kagome moves to a new town where she quickly becomes friends with the neighborhood kids. Allies, foes, old boyfriends, new boyfriends, jealousy, fluff, all that good dramatic stuff. InuxKag MirxSan maybe even some SessxRin T for now. Maybe M later?
1. Moving In

**This is a rewrite of a story under the same name that I wrote when I was in 8th/9th grade like 10 or 11 years ago. Will kind of follow along the same lines but good god was that fic poorly written. Don't even get me started on some of the plot…**

 **Chapter 1: Moving In**

"We're here!"

Kagome lifted her head off the window as her mom slid their car into the driveway in front of a large brick house, but said nothing. As much as she hated the idea of being forced to move over 200 miles from everything she'd grown up with, she had to admit the house was gorgeous. Large, beautiful brick house with a wraparound porch and a huge front yard where two large oak trees cast shade over the entire yard. She knew from the initial tour that the backyard had a small pool, patio, and her favorite feature—the second floor rooms in the back had balconies.

Her mother had already laid claim to the one the master bedroom was connected to, but had already made the other off limits to Souta, who was only eleven, and their mother was afraid to even think of the shenanigans the young boy would get into. So that left the room open to Kagome.

"Look, Kagome," her mother began cheerily. "She looks like your age. You should go introduce yourself."

Kagome glanced at her mother incredulously before following her gaze to the house on the right. It was similar in style, the houses on the street were fairly large, but they were pretty close to one another. There was a dark haired girl sitting on the steps of the porch, tapping away on the phone in her hand, head bobbing to whatever was playing through her headphones.

Kagome let out a scoff and unbuckled herself. "Please, mom. Stop," Kagome mumbled. "She's clearly waiting for someone. It's a Friday night. _The_ Friday night before school starts."

Her mom rolled her eyes at Souta in the rearview mirror and the boy laughed. "Fine."

"It's too hot out to just _sit on the porch_ ," Kagome harrumphed as she pushed the door open. Kagome's eyes flicked up to the girl next door as she shifted and their eyes met for a second. Kagome smiled shyly before heading to the back of the car.

"Both of you come get a box before you go inside."

Her mom was placing a box into Souta's arms and Kagome reached in to grab the box of her nice clothes so she could hang those in her new walk-in closet before she unpacked anything else. As hard of an effort as she made to avoid looking at the girl next door again, their eyes met again as Kagome waited for her mom to find the key and unlock the door.

Kagome let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as her mom got the door open with a triumphant 'Aha!' and she flattened herself against the door to let her two kids in.

"Souta, your room is at the top of the stairs, first door on the left," she called up the stairs.

"But I wanted the balcony," he whined, stomping the last few steps up.

Kagome sighed at the bottom of the stairs. It sucked how beautiful the house was. The foyer was large, the ceilings reaching the second floor. The stairs wound up on her right, glistening dark hardwood that had creaked under even her brothers weight. The dark wood in the foyer led down a hallway in front of her where she could see the kitchen and breakfast area, and stretched out to her left into a den or sorts.

"I'm sorry dear," her mother sighed, draping an arm over her shoulder. "I know this is going to be hard for you, going into your junior year. I wouldn't have dragged you all the way out here if I had any other choice."

"I know," Kagome murmured.

Her mother kissed her on the forehead and nudged her towards the stairs. "The furniture should all be moved in, you'll just have to rearrange it to your liking," she said over her shoulder and she headed for the car.

Kagome trudged up the steps, the creaking reminding her that the house had a history, just like her. That the house had a story and was a home. She pushed those feelings aside as she walked down the hall to the last door on the right and nudged it open with her foot.

Alright, it was a large room. She'd been in it during the tour, but memory had faded and it was definitely larger with her old furniture in it. She dropped her box in front of the closet door and immediately moved to adjust the layout of the furniture. While her bedroom door was in one corner with the closet doors along the same wall, the balcony doors were in the opposite corner and took up half of the wall. She pushed her bed into the back left corner, next to the balcony doors, and was pleased that it fit perfectly.

She didn't mind her dresser being at the foot of her bed against the wall next to her closet doors. It would work perfectly to hold up her TV.

"Okay," she breathed, hands on her hips. She suddenly remembered the box of clothes and turned around, throwing open the closet door, a grin sliding onto her face at the vastness. It was easily bigger than the closet in the master bedroom.

Kagome glanced around her new room for her desk. Peeling the plastic wrap away from one of the drawers, she managed to slide out a pair of scissors that she could use to cut the tape on her box.

"Kagome, can you go get the rest of your boxes out of the car?" her mom asked, poking her head into the room.

"I want to unpack this box first, I don't want my dresses to get wrinkled," she explained from the floor, flipping open the flaps so her mother could see her precious clothing folded neatly inside.

"Alright. Hurry," her mom conceded, heading back down the hall. "I don't want to leave the car unlocked in the driveway."

Despite her mother's wishes, Kagome took her time and hung up each dress and coat with care, making sure to smooth out the wrinkles in each one as she went. She was still upset they had to move at all. She pursed her lips at the last dress in the box. It had been the first one she packed, the last dress she wore.

Her boyfriend Kouga would be starting his senior year soon. He had taken her to his junior prom earlier that spring. She frowned at the thought. Well, he _was_ her boyfriend. Her stupid ex-boyfriend that didn't believe long distance relationships could work.

Why had that not been an issue when they talked about colleges? They both knew he would have been leaving for college in a year anyways, would he have broken up with her then anyways?

Angrily she stuffed the dress behind everything else in her closet where she could forget about it, forget about him. That was one thing the new school would bring about, she guessed. New opportunities. She'd grown up with the guys around her since preschool. No one here knew her. They didn't know she ate glue that _one time_ in first grade as a dare. Or the time she kissed the "weird kid" behind the score board during a football game their seventh grade year.

Maybe she'd be okay. But right now, she was not.

She walked down to the car as Souta was grabbing his last box. The girl on the porch was gone, she noticed, but the house to their left, an older boy was making out with a black haired girl. But that wasn't what caused her to stare. The boy. He was tall, thin. His hair was long and silvery, glinting strangely in the setting sun. She'd never seen such a shade before. But it was easily explained by the similarly colored hears standing up on the top of his head.

Demons weren't necessarily _common_ where she came from, but they weren't rare enough to be surprised by one. Kouga was a demon. Was he her other neighbor? Or was the girl? She pressed her lips together and nearly jumped into the back of the car when they both looked up at her, catching her staring. She grabbed the closest box and all but ran back inside, face on fire.

"Slow down so you don't trip," he mother warned as she bounded up the stairs past her. She dropped the box carelessly next to her desk then padded across the room to the window next to her bed. The window was on the left side of the house, and she could just barely see the figures on the porch next door.

They didn't stand there long before entering the house. But she let out a sigh when she noticed the window across from hers on the house next door light up, the boy and girl entering the room there. She made a mental note to look for her curtains above all else before she went to bed that night. If she could see them clearly, whoever lived there could undoubtedly see her.

She scurried down the stairs to retrieve the last of her boxes. At least both her neighbors were around her age. Maybe they would all end up at the same high school. Having at least one friend would make the transition a lot easier, she guessed.

She would have to wait and see.

 **Reviews make me happyyyyy**


	2. Weekend's End Part 1

**I seriously got someone telling me my pairings were "wrong" and that they "would no longer be reading the story"? Boo, I listed them in the summary to let people know…don't read what you don't like? Haha I dunno what to tell you…**

 **Chapter 2: Weekend's End Part 1**

Kagome flopped down onto her bed and glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. It was only eight-thirty and she was kind of exhausted. She'd unpacked most of her clothes, losing herself in the task of assembling her closet. She still needed to find her bedspread and sheets, and of course the curtains.

She rolled her head to the other side of glanced across the space between her house and the neighbors'. The light had gone dark sometime during her unpacking.

"Kagome," a voice called before three light taps sounded from her door. Without waiting for a response, her mother peeked into the room with a smile. "There are two kids downstairs here for you."

Kouga immediately flashed through her mind, but she quashed that thought before her hopes could get too high. "Who?" she asked instead. "I don't know anyone yet."

"The girl next door." Kagome's mom crossed her arms. "I told you. You should have gone to introduce yourself."

"How did she know I was here?" Kagome challenged in a whisper.

Her mom shrugged. "I don't know, she just knocked on the door, introduced herself to me, and said she noticed my daughter earlier and wanted to introduce herself."

Kagome just blinked at her mother, not believing what she was hearing.

"It's rude to keep them waiting," he mother urged as she turned and left, Kagome jumping off the bed and following closely.

As she bounded down the stairs, a couple turned and looked up at her. The dark haired girl from earlier was standing with her arms crossed next to a boy slightly taller than herself, his hair a bit darker. Both had on relatively nice clothes. She had on a nice sundress and sandals, he had on a pair of khaki shorts and a lavender button down with the sleeves rolled up.

"Hi," she managed to greet as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm Sango," the girl said cheerily, holding out her hand. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "this is my boyfriend, Miroku."

"I'm Kagome," she replied, shaking their hands.

"I just wanted to come over and introduce myself," she explained. "I felt rude not saying anything earlier, but you were busy and I was waiting." She gestured to her boyfriend.

"No, it's okay," Kagome waved her away.

"Friday nights are date night, but after we usually go see a movie with some other friends if you wanted to join us," Miroku offered.

Kagome pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the time, scratching the back of her neck. She was torn. She desperately wanted new friends so she wouldn't be so alone when she started school Monday, but it was also late.

"I don't know," she muttered. "I'm not sure my mom would be crazy about me going out so late."

"Oh please," her mother laughed as she passed by with a box labeled 'kitchenware'. "Sweetie, go. We'll talk about curfews when school starts."

Kagome sighed, but smiled. "Sure, I'd love to go."

Sango grinned. "Great! Now, you're welcome to wear your pajamas…" she gestured to Kagome's dog print pajama pants and tank top."

She let out a laugh. "Gimme a few minutes to change. I was unpacking."

"Alright, we'll be outside next door waiting," Sango told her ash Kagome took the stairs two at a time.

She threw open her closet doors as soon as she made it to her room and stood there in the doorway, mind suddenly blank as to where she had put everything. Kagome stripped down quickly, leaving her pajamas in a puddle of clothing in the middle of the closet. Lips pressed into a line and eyebrows furrowed, she scanned the lines of clothing hanging in her closet. She didn't want to be too dressy or too casual.

"This will have to do," she sighed, pulling out a flow-y navy skirt to pair with a lacy white tank top. She slipped on some white leather flats as she examined herself in the mirror hanging on the closet door. "I can always use the unpacking excuse…"

"Kagome," her mom called as she bounced back down the stairs. Her mother met her in the foyer and handed her a key on a keychain, a little white puppy dangling off of it. Kagome took it and inspected the keychain with an amused smile, squeezing the button to see the eyes light up.

"I'll probably have the door locked when you come home, and if I ever forget to turn the light on for you, the little puppy can help you find the keyhole.

Kagome chuckled. "Thanks, mom."

Her mom kissed her cheek and nudged her towards the door as she slipped a twenty into her hand. "Go, have fun. Text me if you're going to be later than 2, alright?"

Kagome waved her phone in her mother's face to show her she was taking it with her before dropping it into her purse and stepping out onto the porch. A click sounded, telling her that her mother had locked the door, and Kagome scanned the house next door looking for Sango and Miroku.

"Over here!" Sango's voice called from the opposite direction.

Kagome turned to see Miroku and Sango standing at the end of the driveway to her right, the house she'd seen the beautiful white haired guy making out with the black haired girl.

"We're just waiting for a couple of our friends," Sango explained as Kagome walked up to them.

Miroku jammed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Well," he drawled, " _friends_ is an objective term."

Sango whacked him in the ribs. "You're going to meet a girl named Kikyo. She's kind of a bitch when she doesn't get her way," Sango grumbled. "But don't take our word for it. I'm sure you're perfectly capable of forming your _own_ opinions." Sango shot a pointed look at Miroku, who simply shrugged with indifference.

"InuYasha is very aware of my feelings toward his girlfriend."

Kagome wished she knew how to respond, so she just smiled and nodded. "What movie are we going to see?" she asked instead.

Sango shrugged. "We usually decide when we get there."

"Finally," Miroku interrupted, turning to face the house. All their attentions turned to the couple that quickly made their way down the driveway. "You're late." Miroku glanced down at his watch to make a point.

"Oh, bite me," the silver haired demon grumbled, jerking open the driver's side door to a sleek black car. "Just get in."

Sango took Kagome's arm and tugged her towards the car, Miroku getting in on the opposite side. She chanced a glance at the girl, whose black hair was smooth and shiny, matching her dark wash skinny jeans, black heals, and bright red halter top perfectly. She looked like a model, if Kagome was being honest. But she wouldn't meet Kagome's eyes and she had a feeling the other girl was making a point not to.

The boy, on the other hand, managed to not only meet her gaze as she looked at him, but she caught him looking her over as she got into the car after Sango. Kagome was thankful for the darkness inside the car to hide the blush on her face. His jeans fit so well, his white button down tight in all the right places, showing off his toned muscles in places. Like Miroku, his sleeves were rolled up to the tops of his forwards and she could see long muscles beneath the fabric.

"Who's she?" he asked when he got in, looking back at her in the rearview mirror. His tone was clearly not meant to be abrasive, but Kagome couldn't help feeling rubbed the wrong way. Especially when she caught the slightest movement from the girl in the passenger's seat. The slightest turn of her head, just enough to catch a glimpse of Kagome squeezed in the back seat.

"Her name is Kagome and she's our new neighbor," Sango stated slowly as InuYasha backed out of the driveway, his eyes constantly flicking back to Kagome's. To Kagome she said, "Let me see your phone?"

Kagome frowned but dug through her purse and handed Sango her phone.

"Kagome, meet InuYasha, your other lovely neighbor, and his girlfriend, Kikyo," Sango continued, tapping slowly through Kagome's phone. "Ugh, Androids are a nightmare. Get me to your contacts so I can add myself."

"Oh," Kagome breathed with a smile, taking the phone back.

"Nice to meet you, Kagome," Kikyo said with a smile, fully turned around in her seat now, hand reached out to shake Kagome's. Kagome returned the gesture and nodded with as kind of a smile as she could muster.

"Nice to meet you, too."

Sango, on the other hand, leveled Kikyo a flat stare. "You should put your seatbelt on."

Kikyo flashed Sango a look that clearly said nothing kind and turned back around. And Sango immediately began typing a new message on her phone. Kagome looked at her own for the sake of busying herself during the awkward silence, and noticed Sango had texted herself a jumble of letters, undoubtedly to easily get Kagome's number.

Seconds later, her phone chimed loudly and she felt all eyes on her and she scrambled to turn the volume off.

 _You saw that, right? I mean, is it just me? She seemed to make an effort to be nice to you…_

Kagome pursed her lips. _I'm nice to people I don't know, too, though…I need more than just a greeting I think._

 _Oh, should I be worried?_ Sango replied, smirking at her.

 _Yes. Be very worried,_ Kagome sent back with a quiet giggle.

"You two are being _so_ rude," Miroku muttered to the window, his hand finding Sango's.

"Sorry," Kagome muttered back, unsure if he was being serious or not.

"He's joking," Sango whispered. Louder, "So, Kagome, what brings you to our neck of the woods?"

"Mom got a new job," Kagome replied as vaguely as she could. "We couldn't afford to upkeep the shrine anymore."

"You lived at a shrine?" InuYasha piped in for the first time.

Kagome nodded to him, catching his eye in the mirror. "Higurashi Shrine."

"Oh, I've been there a time or two," Miroku added with a nod.

Kagome let the car slip into an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to the theater, which wasn't more than five minutes from the house, thankfully. When they got out of the car, Kagome fully expected to play the role of Fifth Wheel, so she was surprised when, instead of grabbing Miroku, Sango linked arms with Kagome and led the group towards the ticket windows.

"What looks go to you?" Sango asked as they stepped up to the window.

Kagome scanned the list of movies that still had showings for the night despite it being a bit later. There were four movies.

"We are not going to see that girl romantic shit," InuYasha announced, stepping up to her other side.

Sango leaned forward to glare at him around Kagome. " _Kagome_ gets to pick this time," she snapped.

"Says who?" Kagome heard Kikyo mutter under her breath from InuYasha's other side.

Kagome glanced at Sango to see if she'd heard her, and from the sour look on her face, she had. Kagome smiled. "You two are welcome to go see something else," she said as sweetly ash she could. "We'll meet you back in the lobby after."

Kikyo audibly scoffed and crossed her arms, but InuYasha shrugged and seemed to be sincerely thinking about Kagome's offer.

"I don't care what we see," Miroku muttered. "Whatever you wanna see." He kissed Sango on the cheek and she grinned at him.

Aside from the romantic movie about time traveling love or something, there was a horror movie about a mirror, some kind of action nonsense about a bunch of swords, and a sci-fi fantasy one about a vanishing island.

"See anything that speaks to you?" Sango asked, jerking her new friend's arm.

"Can you stomach a horror movie?" she asked with a shy grin.

"Definitely." Sango looked back towards Miroku, who seemed slightly surprised and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sounds good to me."

"I don't like horror movies, InuYasha," Kikyo mumbled.

"You'll be okay," he sighed, clearly exasperated.

"But I don't want to—" she began to argue, digging her heels into the concrete and he tried to walk towards the window to get in line behind Miroku and Sango.

"You can pick the movie next week, I promise," he murmured to her.

"You know that's a lie," she snapped back in a whisper Kagome pretended not to hear. "Your asshole friends _never_ let me pick."

Kagome dug through her purse, more to busy herself with something and appear distracted than to actually find anything.

"You need me to get your ticket?"

Kagome looked up at InuYasha, who had stopped halfway to the counter when he noticed she hadn't moved. While he was looking at her with a look of light concern, Kikyo was clearly trying to drag him away.

"Uh, no," she replied, holding up her twenty. "I found my money. Thanks."

InuYasha nodded and turned away, but Kagome caught the very quick glare Kikyo had shot her.

 _I'm catching the vibes from Kikyo now,_ Kagome sent to Sango while she waited her turn in line.

 _Come to me, New Friend. I will protect you,_ Sango sent back and Kagome giggled. She stepped up to the window and ordered her ticket. Her phone vibrated in her hand and she figured Sango was just telling her to hurry.

Ticket in hand, she checked her phone as she opened the door and stepped into the lobby, but it wasn't Sango who had texted her, it was Kouga.

 _Call me tonight? We should talk if you're free._

Kagome bit her lip and turned off her phone without responding, trying to keep the frown off her face as she met back up with Sango and the rest of the group at the concession stand.

"You okay?" Sango whispered. "Was it really that bad?"

Kagome shook her head quickly. "No, no, it was someone else." She wondered how much she should tell this girl she'd only just met, and decided that trust was not a thing she should give out so easily anymore. While Sango had been so nice to her, she clearly had no issue bad mouthing people behind their backs like she'd done to Kikyo.

For now, she'd keep Kouga to herself. Maybe if she ignored him enough, he'd go away and let her move on…


	3. Weekend's End Part 2

**Yeah chapter 3 :D Because life kind of really sucks at the moment and fanfiction brings me happiness.**

 **Chapter 3: Weekend's End Part 2**

"We're sitting here," Kikyou announced as they made their way up the stairs of the theater. InuYasha followed Kikyou down the aisle she'd chosen, Kagome behind him silently. As Kikyou was about to sit, she met Kagome's eyes as she sat down on InuYasha's other side.

"Kikyou, what the hell!" InuYasha yelled as Kikyou jerked his arm, ripping him away from the seat he was almost in, and pushed him to her other side, swapping seats.

"Sit here."

"Whatever," Kagome heard him grumble and she sipped on her sprite and glanced at Sango to keep from making a comment.

"Have you seen this movie?" Sango asked her, and Kagome shook her head. "I have. It's really good. More jump scares than actual scary stuff, but still good."

Kagome paled. "If you'd seen this one already, we could have gone to see something else."

"If she didn't want to see it, she would have said something," Kikyou interrupted from Kagome's other side. " _Trust me_."

Sango leaned forward, her grip on her candy crushing the box. "What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"What do you _think_?" Kikyou hissed back quietly.

"Are you serious?" Sango laughed incredulously. She glanced at Kagome in shock. "This bitch…"

Now Kikyou leaned forward around Kagome, who sunk down in her seat in an effort to avoid the catfight. She was suddenly wishing she was sitting on Miroku's other side right now.

" _What_ did you just call me?"

"What do you _think_?" Sango mocked.

Kikyou straightened up and smacked InuYasha on the thigh.

"Miroku, control your woman, please," InuYasha snapped.

"You know as well as I do that I'm her boyfriend, not her father," Miroku muttered back. His tone took on a more charming trait when he turned to them and said, "But honestly, ladies, we have a guest with us. We should try to be on our best behavior to make a good first impression."

Silence fell over them for a while and Kagome watched InuYasha out of the corner of her eye, his hair bright even in the dim lighting. His ears stood atop his head and were white and fuzzy. Kagome got the urge to touch them, her fingers twitching in her lap. She bet they were super soft. She'd never seen a demon with ears like that, though. Kouga was a wolf demon, but his ears had been similar to a human's, only pointed at the tips. What kind of demon was InuYasha?

Kikyou leaned over to InuYasha. "I'm gonna go get a refill before the movie starts," she told him, kissing his cheek. He grunted and she stood. Kagome instinctually pulled her legs in as close to the seat as she could, watching to make sure Kikyou didn't trip on her purse that was lying on the floor.

So she watched as Kikyou tripped over nothing, falling forward over Kagome. A cold, bubbling wetness covered her instantly as Kikyou's coke bounced off her lap and coated the front of her. Frozen in shock, Kagome sat still as a stone for a single instant. Kikyou was hovering over her, hands braced on the back of Kagome's chair, her lips at Kagome's ear.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, little girl," she whispered.

Kagome reacted by pushing Kikyou off her roughly, InuYasha sprung from his chair to catch her before she went toppling over the row of seats in front of them.

Sango stood and jerked Kagome out of her chair, aware that the other very few movie goers around them were staring now. "You are such a venomous bitch," Sango snapped. "You don't even know her, _back off_."

"Calm down," InuYasha demanded loudly. "It was an accident."

"It wasn't," Kagome defended quietly, and InuYasha bit his tongue.

"Come on." Sango tugged on Kagome's arm as the lights dimmed further and previews began. She grabbed Kagome's purse, her own already slung over her arm, and dragged Kagome towards the bathrooms.

"I should have warned you, I'm sorry," Sango sighed as she pulled out a string of paper towels and wet them in the sink.

"Warned me about what?" Kagome grumbled, wiping the coke off her arms with her own paper towel. "You already warned me that she's crazy."

Sango shook her head. "No, I should have mentioned she's crazy territorial over InuYasha."

"But I didn't touch him, I barely talked to him."

Sango gave Kagome a look. They hadn't been friends for more than a few hours, but Kagome knew exactly what the girl was trying to convey. "I saw you, Kagome. You were practically undressing him with your eyes."

"I was not!" Kagome gasped. She quickly backpedaled and tried to defend herself. "I just haven't seen many demons like him. I used to date a wolf demon, but he didn't have ears like that. I was just curious."

Sango didn't look like she bought Kagome's excuse, but she went to work on dabbing at the stains on Kagome's white top.

"Just stop, this is never going to come out," Kagome signed, throwing her wad of towels in the trash roughly.

"She's just jealous, I promise," Sango told her.

"So I'm in for worse?" Kagome guessed.

"She's just threatened because you are _way_ prettier than her." Sango smiled when Kagome blushed a little, a shy smile sliding onto her new friends face.

"Thanks."

"Do you want to go back and see the movie now?"

Kagome shook her head and pulled her phone from her purse, heading for the door. "I think I'm just gonna call my mom and have her come pick me up. I don't want to ruin the night for you and Miroku, so you guys stay. I wouldn't want you guys to waste money over me."

"Too late," a voice said as the exited the restroom. Miroku was leaning against the wall across the hallway, hands in his pockets.

Sango swatted at him. "Don't be mean," she snapped.

Kagome opened her mouth to argue that they should stay, but Miroku held up a hand. "Why don't we go back to my place and watch a movie there?" he suggested.

"Did you tell InuYasha you were leaving?" Sango asked flatly.

Miroku shook his head with an amused look on his face. "He'll figure it out too late."

The trio headed for the door and Sango let out a breath. "If only you'd driven us, Miroku. Then we could be leaving their asses here with no ride on top of it all."

"Then we'd be no better than Kikyou," Kagome mumbled.

"Maybe so," Miroku agreed, "but you have to admit you'd feel just a tiny bit better."

"Maybe," Kagome said with a soft chuckle. "Just a little."

"That's the spirit!" Sango cheered as a car pulled up. "That was fast."

"I called him while you were in the bathroom cleaning up," Miroku told her as they got in.

Miroku turned around in the passenger seat and smiled. "Kagome, this is my father's driver, Hachi. Hachi, this is our new neighbor, Kagome."

"It's nice to meet you." The driver turned around to smile at Kagome in the back seat and she was a little surprised to see strange markings on his face. A darkness encircled his eyes, which seemed to almost glow bright white in the dark of the car, and a light brown marking came down from his forehead and ran to the tip of his nose.

"It's nice to meet you, too."

"Where to, Master Miroku?" Hachi asked, putting the car into drive and heading for the main road.

"Just home," he replied, buckling his seatbelt. "We're going to watch a movie in the home theater."

The short ride back to the house was silent. Sango wasn't sure what to say to Kagome, and Kagome just wanted to go home and curl into a ball. She pulled out her phone and opened her messages to text her mom, but noticed the text from Koga and immediately dropped her phone back into her purse.

"I'm going to make this night a success if it kills me," Sango said to her as they got out of the car in Miroku's driveway. Sango walked with Kagome as they crossed the street. "Get some pajamas on and meet me back out here in five minutes. I swear it's not usually this dramatic around here."

"She's lying," Miroku yelled from the driveway.

Sango shot him a glare and Kagome sighed. "Alright," she conceded. "I'll meet you back out here in five."

"I promise. It'll be better without them," Sango repeated as they parted.

Something in Kagome really hoped her words were true. She reminded Kagome so much of the friends she left back home. Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka. She hadn't managed to reply to any of their texts, either, but for completely different reasons from Kouga.

"Back so soon?" her mother greeted as she unlocked and entered the house.

"Yeah," she sighed. "There was an accident."

"An accident? Are you alright?" her mother appeared in the foyer, eyes scanning her daughter leaning against the front door.

"I'm fine."

"Oh, Sweetie, your clothes."

"Can you get the coke out?" Kagome asked, knowing the answer would be a no even before her mother began shaking her head.

"I can try, Kagome, but that top is beyond saving."

"Thanks," she sighed, heading for the stairs.

"Are you in for the night?" her mother called up after her.

"Oh, uh, no," she started, unsure of how this would play out. This was new territory for her with her mother. Typically her curfew had been a very firm 10, and it was already nearly 9. "We left the theater before the movie started, so Sango and Miroku invited me to change and go watch a movie at Miroku's house."

"Where does Miroku live?" she asked, brow furrowed.

"Across the street," Kagome stated simply, butterflies dissipating when her mother smiled and nodded.

"Just be quiet when you come in."

"Thanks, mom!" Kagome called back.

She found the pajamas she's been wearing before in a pile in her closet. She peeled off her sticky mess of clothing and sighed. Her room, unfortunately, didn't have a bathroom attached like her mother's did, but she managed to tiptoe to the one across the hall and wash up without Souta or her mother seeing.

She'd taken way more than five minutes by the time she bounced back down the stairs with her soiled outfit in one hand, her phone and keys in the other.

"Have fun!" her mom called as she left, taking the clothing and locking the door behind her.

"About _time_ ," Sango sighed when Kagome met her at the end of the driveway.

"Sorry, practically had to shower," Kagome mumbled.

Sango linked arms with her and pointed to a set of headlights pulling into the driveway next door. "It's okay, but we should probably hurry across the street."

Kagome could see the silhouette of InuYasha's ears in the driver's seat. Sango suddenly jerked Kagome's arm as the car shut off and both passenger's began to get out of the car. The pair made it across the street before InuYasha could fully get out his car. Sango tugged Kagome down to a crouch between the cars in Miroku's driveway.

"If they see where we are, he'll bring Kikyou," Sango explained in a whisper. "InuYasha by himself is great, but Kikyou brings out the worst in him."

"Oh, you're allowed to look at Kikyou's Boyfriend?" Kagome asked sarcastically, peeking over the hood of the car, eyes locking instantly with InuYasha's. She froze and ducked, laughing quietly. "He saw me."

"Let's go, we're gonna have to run for it." Sango grabbed Kagome's hand and they sprinted for the front door, Sango throwing it open without knocking. The door slammed shut and Miroku appeared in the foyer that was very similar to Kagome's, she noticed.

"Please try to be quiet," he sighed. He was wearing track pants and a plain tshirt now. "Come on."

As Miroku led them upstairs and into a back room, his phone started vibrating.

"Don't answer it," Sango told him. Kagome followed Sango to a row of leather seats.

"Hello, yes, can I help you?"

Sango rolled her eyes and leaned over the armrest of her chair and pointed to a few buttons on the inside of the armrest. "This one is open, this one is close." She turned to Miroku. "I told you not to answer him."

Miroku was getting an earful, and Kagome knew that InuYasha and Kikyou had not stayed for the duration of the movie. She kind of felt bad, since Kikyou hadn't wanted to see the movie anyways, and everyone wasted money on it.

Then again, Kikyou didn't have to pour her drink on her. That was also an option.

"Is Kikyou with you?" Miroku asked when he could get a word in.

"Kikyou says you're not allowed to hang out around Kagome, hm?" Miroku repeated, throwing a look to Sango and Kagome, who then shared their own look. "I didn't know you were as obedient as, say, a do—"

There was a loud, inaudible string of words being screamed at Miroku through the phone, and he just smirked at it, waiting for it to die down.

"He hates that," Kagome explained. "He says he's a demon, not a pet."

"Well then maybe he should stop acting like one," Kagome muttered.

Miroku choked on his laughter in surprise and Sango cracked up with him.

"InuYasha, if you'd like to take Kikyou home and come watch a movie with us, you are more than welcome. But I'm sorry to say that the invitation cannot extend to Kikyou at this time." Miroku waited for a second and when he got no response, checked the screen on his phone. "He hung up on me."

"No big loss," Sango sighed contentedly. "We'll enjoy our night regardless."

"Good," Kagome responded with feeling.

 **Reviews make me happy :D**


	4. School Starts

While the movie played, some weird animated thing Kagome had never heard of, she and Sango spent most of the night talking about the most random things. Miroku would contribute to the conversation occasionally, but he mostly let the girls talk.

Kagome's eyes widened when her phone started ringing and she immediately hushed it, turning it face down on the arm rest.

"Who was that?" Sango prodded with a suspicious look on her face. When Kagome didn't answer right away, Sango smirked, clearly putting something together in her head. "Is it Mr. Wolf Demon?" She dove for the still-vibrating phone and managed to swipe it off the chair before Kagome could. "Hello?"

"Sango," Miroku sighed.

Kagome felt her face heating up, but continued to try and retrieve her phone. "This is so crossing a line," she snapped.

"I'm Kagome's new friend, Sango," Sango said. "May I ask who is calling?" She waited a moment then raised her eyebrows at Kagome. "You clearly have a type, Kagome."

Kagome closed her eyes, even she could hear Kouga yelling "What the hell does that mean?" from her chair. "Please, just hang up," she begged.

"He really wants to talk to you, Kagome," Sango said, holding the phone out to her. Kagome took the chance and grabbed her phone, immediately tapping the button to end the call. Sango's jaw dropped. "Oh come on, Kagome! He wanted to talk to you!"

"You don't understand," she mumbled. "We broke up. _He_ dumped _me._ "

Sango frowned. "Then why is he calling you? I assumed you dumped him."

Kagome shook her head with a frown. "He didn't think we could keep up a long distance relationship."

Sango glanced at Miroku and did a double take. "Are you on _Facebook_ while we are mid-crisis right now? Seriously?"

Miroku glanced up from his phone for a brief moment before he turned back to the screen. "No," he replied. "InuYasha is texting me."

Kagome rolled her eyes and Sango sighed. "He always throws a fit when Kikyou doesn't get her way," she explained.

"She says he's not allowed to hang out with us if Kagome is around," Miroku muttered, brows furrowed. "Kikyou went home, but I can't get InuYasha to come over."

"What _ever_ ," Kagome proclaimed loudly. "Like I'd want to be friends with a guy so whipped he can't even hang out with his own friends on a Friday night. No thanks. Kikyou can get over herself." She crossed her arms across her chest.

Sango choked out a laugh. "That's the spirit," she encouraged. To Miroku, "just hang up. Don't let him ruin our night any further."

Miroku held the phone in front of his face. "I think he heard Kagome," he laughed. "InuYasha hung up on me."

"Shame," Kagome sighed in mock sadness, ready to continue enjoying her time with her new friends.

Kagome's mind lingered on InuYasha when she left Miroku's and up until she climbed into bed. There was no denying he was attractive. The way his jeans clung to his hips, low and enticing. The long, silver hair. The ears…

"Ugh," Kagome groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her comforter. He was _with someone_. She wasn't _that_ type of girl, was she? Well, there was no shame in crushing on an unavailable guy, she conceded. The shame came when one acted upon those feelings.

So, whatever this feeling is, it'll stay a secret, she decided as she drifted to sleep. At least while he still had Kikyou…

XXX

Kagome didn't catch sight of Sango or Miroku for the remainder of the weekend. Not that she hadn't been hopeful, but her mom had whisked her off for a majority of the weekend to do some shopping. School supplies and clothing for her and Souta, and furniture shopping to fill in a room or two and replace some of the older pieces. Their old house may have been bigger than this one, but downsizing had come with a chunk of money left over from selling the larger one.

Kagome smoothed out her blouse over the top of her jeans as she stood by the car waiting for her mother to usher Souta out of the house. She watched as a sleek, white, 2-door little car zipped into InuYasha's driveway next door and blared the horn despite the relatively early hour.

She watched out of the corner of her eye, her face tilted down towards her phone screen, as InuYasha exited his house, hollering something back into the door before he shut it, and then got in the car. He, unlike her, made no efforts to hide his ogling. Did he notice her covertly watching him? Kikyou sure noticed _him_ watching _her_ , she noted as the girl gave InuYasha an angry whack across the chest as she backed down the driveway.

"Kagome!"

She turned at the sound of her name to see Miroku and Sango in the driveway behind her. She waved with a smile, Miroku waving back as he got into the passenger side of the little red car.

"Need a ride?" Sango asked, one foot in her car already.

Kagome shook her head. "Mom has to take me to enroll me in classes."

"Oh," she frowned. "Have fun with that. Text me your schedule when you get it!"

"Will do," she replied with a smile, waving as the two backed out and drove away.

Kagome sat silently all the way to school as her mom gushed about how grown up her babies were. Souta was starting his last year of middle school, and Kagome was on the tail end of high school. But she couldn't bring herself to be excited. All she could think about was her friends. And then, of course, Kouga.

He'd probably meet someone new this school year. And he'll be crazy about her.

"Alright, I'll see you after school, Kagome."

"Huh?" Kagome blinked and looked down at the schedule card in her hand. She'd been so lost in thought, she hadn't noticed they'd entered the school and her mom had completely signed her up for classes.

Her mom kissed her cheek. "I'll be out front after school."

"Alright," she managed. A quick glance at her phone told her she was already ten minutes late for her first period class, World History.

"Welcome, you're late…" the teacher trailed off expectantly.

"Higurashi," she muttered. "It's my first day, sorry."

"Theirs, too," she replied flatly, nodding to the class that were all staring at her. "They managed to make it on time. I'm not seeing your name on my attendance sheet, you're sure this is your class?"

Kagome pressed her lips together to keep from making a snide remark and held out her schedule to the teacher.

"Ah." She handed back the card. "You meant you're _new_ new. You can take a seat next to Mr. Tashio."

"Of course," Kagome breathed locking eyes with InuYasha, cursing her luck. She took a syllabus from the teacher and made her way towards the back of the class.

She sat and avoided looking in InuYasha's direction. The teacher proceeded to explain the syllabus, and Kagome took the opportunity to quickly text Sango a picture of her schedule card.

 _This teacher was kind of mean when I walked in._

Kagome pretended to be looking over the syllabus, but kept her eyes on her phone hidden in her lap for Sango's reply.

A picture of herself from an odd, low angle to her right appeared. _Girl, I saw._

Kagome jerked upright and discreetly looked over her shoulder to see Sango looking like she wanted to burst into laughter. She rolled her eyes and slipped her phone into her backpack, unwilling to look anywhere else until she was forced to at the end of the period when the teacher gave them some "free time until the bell rang."

"I'm not whipped, you know."

Kagome looked at InuYasha, and eyebrow raised. "Could have fooled me," she muttered, chin in her hand. She'd been staring at her next class wishing the office had given her a map of the school so she'd know how to get there.

InuYasha rolled his eyes and slouched down in his chair. "You don't even know me and you're making rude statements like that."

Kagome couldn't help the humorless laugh that left her mouth. "Oh, you're kidding me right?" she snapped. "You're clearly a demon, so you're hearing isn't _that bad_. I _know_ you heard what Kikyou said to me. Or maybe you _are_ just as dumb as I've heard."

"What did you just say?" he hissed, leaning towards her.

"Hm," she mused dramatically, finger to her lips in mock thought. "Maybe you're defective. You should get your hearing checked."

She tried her best not to flinch when he leaned across the aisle and grabbed onto her desk. "You should watch who you talk to like that," he growled lowly.

"Alright, enough," the teacher called. "InuYasha, back in your seat."

Kagome looked up to see a majority of the class' eyes on them and she felt her face heat up for a moment, but everything got lost as the bell rang and suddenly their squabble was forgotten.

"If you want Kikyou to leave you alone," a voice whispered in her ear as she reached down for her bag. "making her boyfriend your enemy is not the way to go about it."

Kagome glanced up at Sango. "Where is room 116?"

"Kagome," Sango sighed.

Kagome stood and swung her bag over her shoulder. "I would think making InuYasha hate me would get Kikyou off my back."

"You would think," Sango began as they left the classroom. "But they have kind of like this stupid hive-mind thing going on."

Kagome watched as InuYasha walked at a distance in front of them, clearly still rustled over their argument. No doubt on his way to whine to his girlfriend about it. "I don't actually care. They can do whatever they want. I've got too much going on in my life to care."

"That's the spirit," Sango mumbled unenthusiastically. She stopped by the stairs. "I have class upstairs, but 116 is down that hall on the left somewhere."

"Thanks," Kagome called after her. She made her way to her next class, her entrance a lot more low-key than her last. They must have added her name into the rosters now. No more embarrassing explanations. Her assigned seat, designated by the crudely drawn seating chart on the projector at the front of the class, was on the far side of the class, opposite the door. Alphabetical order.

So it didn't surprise her when InuYasha stormed in—because of _course_ he'd be in multiple classes of hers—and didn't notice her one bit. His seat was closer to the door. He looked way more agitated than she'd made him at the end of the last period. He was hunched over his phone, blatantly texting on top of his desk.

Something must have happened between classes. And something in the pit of Kagome's stomach said something bad was getting ready to happen…


End file.
